Ukraine (closed; covers till August 2014)

[Dayuhan]

Dayuhan--thanks for finally agreeing even if you take 2000 words to agree and a couple of roundabout thought processes. You need to shorten the thoughts.

That's actually amusing, coming from someone who habitually writes 4-5 sequential posts on the same topic. I'd suggest composing your thoughts and writing a single post or reply, not a long string of them, as a courtesy to both the participants and the casual readers.

Really go back and dig out the chart I posted here in this thread about the extent and depth of their info war and then tell me it is not and or was not grabbing.

I recognize the extent and depth. What I'm trying to get you to recognize is that despite the extent and depth, the quality of the content remains crude and amateurish. Content matters: extent and depth do nothing for you if the message is poorly crafted or utterly incredible. Extent and depth do not in themselves determine whether or not a campaign "grabs": saturating the audience with a message that only a true-blue fanatic can believe is actually counterproductive, as it diminishes credibility.

So Dayuhan---just what does this statement say from the highest thinker in the US military? It tends to support the concept of the new Russian military doctrine does it not with it's use in supporting political warfare.

Yes, we all see this. We also see that it's not working very well for him. Given that this "new doctrine" only seems applicable to bordering states with substantial Russian-speaking populations and given that it doesn't look to be producing results, is it something we need to be rending our garments over?

Currently I think Putin is all in and he is doing everything possibly short to armed invasion to support the Russian mercenaries because to not do so violates his own propaganda and that would be then viewed as a defeat.

Yes, I agree. The problem with that - and again this is a situation familiar to Americans - is that you can reach a point where the proxies simply can't win, no matter how much support they get. At that point you either write of the proxies and face accusations of betrayal, or intervene directly and face the consequences. In Putin's case the consequences could be most unpleasant, as the oligarchs and the business community (licit and illicit) seem adamantly opposed to direct intervention and they are a key part of Putin's support base. Not a happy place for Putin.